Record 28 Million Americans to Get Food Stamps

An unemployed man talks on the phone with a counselor at the state unemployment and career office in San Francisco. Poverty and unemployment has driven up food stamp use in 40 states to record levels.... (AP Photo/Paul Sakuma)

(Newser)
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In an economic indicator that paints a grim future for swaths of the US population, an all-time record 28 million Americans are expected to be close enough to poverty to receive $36 billion in food stamps in the coming fiscal year, reports the New York Times. There is a surge in recipients in 40 states, with 14 already reporting a record count last year.

The number of recipients in Rhode Island jumped 18% in two years. In states like Illinois, Ohio and Michigan, poverty and unemployment have been rising for years. “Our caseload has more than doubled since 2000, and we’re at an all-time record level,” said a spokeswoman in Michigan, where one of eight residents receives food stamps. (Read more food stamps stories.)